Co-amplification of microbial DNA: A novel observation of a misconstrued second peak at locus D7S820.

DNA fingerprinting, a gold standard, is one of the most powerful tool in applied sciences especially helpful in criminal investigation. Entering in advanced era of forensic DNA, profile reading is much trickier than ever. An unusual DNA profile was observed from a nail swab of female brutally murdered in a domestic violence case. At first, DNA profile was misconstrued as heterozygote at locus D7S820 but later, it was confirmed as homozygous from other evidence items submitted in the same case. Subsequent reprocessing of the same sample, from the extraction stage through to DNA profiling and DNA profile form victim's blood, conclusively established that the unusual peak is from a non-specific microbial presence at that locus.

Analysing role of airborne particulate matter in abetting SARS-CoV-2 outbreak for scheming regional pandemic regulatory modalities.

The mutating SARS-CoV-2 necessitates gauging the role of airborne particulate matter in the COVID-19 outbreak for designing area-specific regulation modalities based on the environmental state-of-affair. To scheme the protocols, the hotspots of air pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, NH3, NO, NO2, SO2, and and environmental factors including relative humidity (RH), and temperature, along with COVID-19 cases and mortality from January 2020 till December 2020 from 29 different ground monitoring stations spanning Delhi, are mapped. Spearman correlation coefficients show a positive relationship between SARS-COV-2 with particulate matter (PM2.5 with r > 0.36 and PM10 with r > 0.31 and p-value <0·001). Besides, SARS-COV-2 transmission showed a substantial correlation with NH3 (r = 0.41), NO2 (r = 0.36), and NO (r = 0.35) with a p-value <0.001, which is highly indicative of their role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission. These outcomes are associated with the source of PM and its constituent trace elements to understand their overtone with COVID-19. This strongly validates temporal and spatial variation in COVID-19 dependence on air pollutants as well as on environmental factors. Besides, the bottlenecks of missing latent data, monotonous dependence of variables, and the role air pollutants with secondary environmental variables are discussed. The analysis set the foundation for strategizing regional-based modalities considering environmental variables (i.e., pollutant concentration, relative humidity, temperature) as well as urban and transportation planning for efficient control and handling of future public health emergencies.

Step-Wise Management of Anemia in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease in Primary Care: Qualitative Study.

INTRODUCTION: Anemia is common in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and reduced quality of life, but is often sub-optimally managed. Most patients are managed in primary care alongside other comorbidities. Interventions to improve the management of anemia in CKD in this setting are needed. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study to evaluate how an audit-based education (ABE) intervention might improve the management of anemia in CKD. We explored outcomes that would be relevant to practitioners and patients, that exposed variation of practice from National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, and whether the intervention was feasible and acceptable. RESULTS: Practitioners (n = 5 groups) and patients (n = 7) from 4 London general practices participated in discussions. Practitioners welcomed the evidence-based step-wise intervention. However, prescribing erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) was felt to be outside of their scope of practice. There was a gap between NICE guidance and clinical practice in primary care. Iron studies were not well understood and anemia management was often conservative or delayed. Patients were often unaware of having CKD, and were more concerned about their other comorbidities, but largely trusted their GPs to manage them appropriately. CONCLUSIONS: The first steps of the intervention were welcomed by practitioners, but they expressed concerns about independently prescribing ESAs. Renal physicians and GPs could develop shared care protocols for ESA use in primary care. There is scope to improve awareness of renal anemia, and enhance knowledge of guideline recommendations; and our intervention should be modified accordingly.

Floating Fog: extending fog computing to vast waters for aerial users.

There are thousands of flights carrying millions of passengers each day, having three or more Internet-connected devices with them on average. Usually, onboard devices remain idle for most of the journey (which can be of several hours), therefore, we can tap on their underutilized potential. Although these devices are generally becoming more and more resourceful, for complex services (such as related to machine learning, augmented/virtual reality, smart healthcare, and so on) those devices do not suffice standalone. This makes a case for multi-device resource aggregation such as through femto-cloud. As our first contribution, we present the utility of femto-cloud for aerial users. But for that sake, a reliable and faster Internet is required (to access online services or cloud resources), which is currently not the case with satellite-based Internet. That is the second challenge we try to address in our paper, by presenting an adaptive beamforming-based solution for aerial Internet provisioning. However, on average, most of the flight path is above waters. Given that, we propose that beamforming transceivers can be docked on stationery ships deployed in the vast waters (such as the ocean). Nevertheless, certain services would be delay-sensitive, and accessing their on-ground servers or cloud may not be feasible (in terms of delay). Similarly, certain complex services may require resources in addition to the flight-local femto-cloud. That is the third challenge we try to tackle in this paper, by proposing that the traditional fog computing (which is a cloud-like but localized pool of resources) can also be extended to the waters on the ships harboring beamforming transceivers. We name it Floating Fog. In addition to that, Floating Fog will enable several new services such as live black-box. We also present a cost and bandwidth analysis to highlight the potentials of Floating Fog. Lastly, we identify some challenges to tackle the successful deployment of Floating Fog.

Incidence of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment (RRD) in a Tertiary Care Center of Pakistan.

Background Regardless of the advancements in ophthalmology, rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) remains a substantial issue for physicians. The present study assessed the incidence of RRD among our population. Methodology A cross-sectional study was performed at the Layton Rehmatullah Benevolent Trust (LRBT) between June 2020 and May 2021. All the patients of RRD, irrespective of gender, within the age bracket of 20 years or more and diagnosed by a consultant ophthalmologist were included in the research study. Patients with serous retinal or tractional detachment and RRD with vitreous leakage were excluded from the study. A slit lamp and dilated fundus examination was performed preoperatively to assess the type of retinal detachment and associated factors as mentioned above. All data were collected on predesigned pro forma. Results About 25,000 individuals were presented to the outpatient department during the study period. Out of these, 100 patients were diagnosed with RRD. The incidence rate of the RRD in our center was 0.4%. There were a majority of the males. The mean age of patients did not vary significantly with respect to gender (p < 0.797). The most common type of RD was the total RD with a frequency of 53 cases followed by inferior RD with 19 cases. The majority of those with total RRD were males, i.e., 37%; however, the difference was statistically insignificant (p = 0.476). The study revealed that most of the RRD was diagnosed in patients < 45 years of age; however, the difference was not statistically significant (p < 0.227). Conclusion The present study highlighted the incidence of RRD and explored the sociodemographic and other clinical features in the Pakistani population. However, it is possible that the RRD condition is still under-diagnosed in our hospital settings. Further exploration is warranted to study comprehensively the risk factors associated with RRD.

A Sequential Machine Learning-cum-Attention Mechanism for Effective Segmentation of Brain Tumor.

Magnetic resonance imaging is the most generally utilized imaging methodology that permits radiologists to look inside the cerebrum using radio waves and magnets for tumor identification. However, it is tedious and complex to identify the tumorous and nontumorous regions due to the complexity in the tumorous region. Therefore, reliable and automatic segmentation and prediction are necessary for the segmentation of brain tumors. This paper proposes a reliable and efficient neural network variant, i.e., an attention-based convolutional neural network for brain tumor segmentation. Specifically, an encoder part of the UNET is a pre-trained VGG19 network followed by the adjacent decoder parts with an attention gate for segmentation noise induction and a denoising mechanism for avoiding overfitting. The dataset we are using for segmentation is BRATS'20, which comprises four different MRI modalities and one target mask file. The abovementioned algorithm resulted in a dice similarity coefficient of 0.83, 0.86, and 0.90 for enhancing, core, and whole tumors, respectively.

Risk Factors Associated With Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment.

Background Even though significant improvements have been made in the field of ophthalmology, retinal detachment is still an ever-increasing issue in both developing and developed countries. The present study evaluated the risk factors of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care center between June 2020 and March 2021. A total of 100 patients diagnosed with RRD were enrolled in the study. Patients with inconclusive diagnoses and multiple comorbidities were excluded from the study. A detailed history was taken, including previous surgery and ocular trauma or infections. A comprehensive ocular examination was conducted by an experienced ophthalmologist, including a dilated fundus examination. The causes and type of RRD were documented. Results In the study, a majority of the patients were males, with a mean age of 37.84 (18.29) years and a range of 5-74 years. The majority of those with total RRD were males, i.e., 37%; however, the difference was statistically insignificant (p=0.476). The study revealed that most of the RRD were diagnosed in patients <45 years of age; however, the difference was not statistically significant (p<0.227). The most frequent cause of RRD was lattice degeneration. While 23% of patients with RRD had a history of ocular trauma, uncomplicated phaco was detected in 17 cases. It was found that patients aged less than 45 years more frequently reported ocular trauma as the cause of RRD (p=0.004). Similarly, the cause of RRD was also significantly associated with the type of RRD (p=0.001). Conclusion The present study concludes that lattice degeneration, ocular trauma, uncomplicated, and complicated phaco are the main predisposing factors associated with RRD. Furthermore, the majority of the patients were males in their late thirties. Age, gender, and eye involvement were not significantly associated with the type of RRD.

Identification of the polymer-bounded drugs on the fabric surface: A challenge to the forensic drug analysts.

Drug trafficking through concealment has always been a method of choice for drug traffickers all around the world. This case shares a new trend in the smuggling of illicit drugs by applying a coating of drug and polymer mixture on fabric. A white fabric sample was submitted by a law enforcement agency to detect the presence of any explosive material on its surface. Later on it was also tested for illicit drugs. Stereomicroscope and Scanning Electron Microscope/Energy Dispersive X-ray Detector (SEM/EDX) were applied for microscopic examination. Acetone extract of the sample was analyzed for explosives by explosive detection kit, Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The routine method involving methanol as solvent was used to check heroin presence. Methanol extract of the sample was analyzed by Mecke test and GCMS. Stereomicroscope and SEM/EDX revealed the presence of some unusual coating on one side of fabric. No explosive material was detected; instead GCMS (method 1) confirmed the presence of heroin (mass fragments 268, 310, 327, and 369 m/z) and FTIR spectrum revealed presence of a polymeric material (dyneema). No drug was identified by GCMS (method 2). Method 2 was modified by replacing methanol with acetone and including an additional step of sonication for 30 min. Acetone extract showed green color with Mecke reagent and a strong signal of heroin on GCMS. This modified extraction method acted well to unbind the coated material from the fabric and to disentangle the drug from the polymer.

In vitro Synthesis, Structure Elucidation, and Antioxidant Properties of Platinum(IV)-hydrazide Complexes: Molecular Modeling of Free- Hydrazides Suggested as Potent Lipoxygenase Inhibitor.

BACKGROUND: A combination of biologically active ligand and metal in one molecule may increase the activity and reduce the toxicity. OBJECTIVES: In this study, the synthesis and characterization of platinum(IV) complexes with bioactive hydrazide ligands are discussed. METHOD: Elemental analysis, conductivity measurements, and spectroscopic studies were used to elucidate the structure of complexes. RESULTS: Our study suggests that hydrazide ligands coordinate with Pt(IV) in a bidentate fashion. The platinum(IV) complexes have octahedral geometry with a metal to ligand ratio of 1:2. Hydrazide ligands were coordinated with central metal platinum(IV) by oxygen of carbonyl group and nitrogen of primary amine. Synthesized complexes exhibited variable DPPH radical scavenging and lipoxygenase inhibition activity. Furthermore, it is also found that Pt(IV)-hydrazide complexes are more potent superoxide and nitric oxide radical scavengers than their uncoordinated hydrazide ligands, while in the case of lipoxygenase enzyme inhibition, some of the free hydrazide ligands are more active than their respective Pt(IV) complexes. In silico docking technique explores molecular interactions of synthesized ligands in the active site of the lipoxygenase enzyme. Predicted docking energies are in good agreement with experimental data suggesting that in silico studies might be useful for the discovery of therapeutic candidates. CONCLUSION: Structure-function relationship demonstrates that the radical scavenging and enzyme inhibition activities of the Pt(IV) compounds are affected by the nature of the ligand, position of substituent, electronic and steric effects. However, electronic factors seem to play a more important role than other factors.

PFSA DNA database: A tool to hunt the serial offenders.

A forensic DNA database comprises of thousands of DNA profiles generated from suspects, convicts or even from common people from society. It is used for the cross-matching of DNA profiles obtained from evidence items collected from a crime scene. These databases are playing a core role in clearing the innocent and solving the dead-end unresolved crimes ultimately leading to crime reduction. In March, 2017, a nine years old minor girl was raped in district Khushab (Province Punjab). The medico-legal examiner indicated brutal sexual violence on the victim. Police apprehended a suspect who was excluded as the source of foreign male DNA from tested evidence items. Thus the case put up a question mark on the capabilities and efficiency of the police. An unknown male DNA profile obtained from evidence items was uploaded to PFSA DNA Database to maintain record. Later on, a suspect was arrested by Karachi (Province Sindh) police in another rape case, DNA profile of suspect was searched in the PFSA DNA Database. This generated DNA profile matched with the foreign DNA profile obtained from evidence items of minor victim, hence this atrocious crime was resolved. PFSA DNA Database provides support to criminal prosecution and also leads to identify potential suspects. It took years of effort to develop the rich PFSA DNA Database which subsequently proved to be fruitful in the exoneration of innocents and conviction of offenders in criminal cases.

Machine Learning for Authentication and Authorization in IoT: Taxonomy, Challenges and Future Research Direction.

With the ongoing efforts for widespread Internet of Things (IoT) adoption, one of the key factors hindering the wide acceptance of IoT is security. Securing IoT networks such as the electric power grid or water supply systems has emerged as a major national and global priority. To address the security issue of IoT, several studies are being carried out that involve the use of, but are not limited to, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and edge/fog computing. Authentication and authorization are crucial aspects of the CIA triad to protect the network from malicious parties. However, existing authorization and authentication schemes are not sufficient for handling security, due to the scale of the IoT networks and the resource-constrained nature of devices. In order to overcome challenges due to various constraints of IoT networks, there is a significant interest in using machine learning techniques to assist in the authentication and authorization process for IoT. In this paper, recent advances in authentication and authorization techniques for IoT networks are reviewed. Based on the review, we present a taxonomy of authentication and authorization schemes in IoT focusing on machine learning-based schemes. Using the presented taxonomy, a thorough analysis is provided of the authentication and authorization (AA) security threats and challenges for IoT. Furthermore, various criteria to achieve a high degree of AA resiliency in IoT implementations to enhance IoT security are evaluated. Lastly, a detailed discussion on open issues, challenges, and future research directions is presented for enabling secure communication among IoT nodes.

Improving the management of type 2 diabetes through large-scale general practice: the role of a data-driven and technology-enabled education programme.

A quality improvement (QI) scheme was launched in 2017, covering a large group of 25 general practices working with a deprived registered population. The aim was to improve the measurable quality of care in a population where type 2 diabetes (T2D) care had previously proved challenging. A complex set of QI interventions were co-designed by a team of primary care clinicians and educationalists and managers. These interventions included organisation-wide goal setting, using a data-driven approach, ensuring staff engagement, implementing an educational programme for pharmacists, facilitating web-based QI learning at-scale and using methods which ensured sustainability. This programme was used to optimise the management of T2D through improving the eight care processes and three treatment targets which form part of the annual national diabetes audit for patients with T2D. With the implemented improvement interventions, there was significant improvement in all care processes and all treatment targets for patients with diabetes. Achievement of all the eight care processes improved by 46.0% (p<0.001) while achievement of all three treatment targets improved by 13.5% (p<0.001). The QI programme provides an example of a data-driven large-scale multicomponent intervention delivered in primary care in ethnically diverse and socially deprived areas.

A digital solution to streamline access to smoking cessation interventions in England; findings from a primary care pilot (STOPNOW study).

Objectives: Despite the proven efficacy of several smoking cessation medications that have been shown to improve long-term abstinence rates, approximately two-thirds of smokers report not having used medication in their most recent quit attempt. A main barrier could be delayed access to pharmacological interventions. This study investigated the utility of a primary care linked online portal to streamline timely access to pharmacological support to patients who want to quit smoking by making an asynchronous request for treatment to their general practitioner. Study design: Prospective cohort study. Methods: An online portal with added functionality was developed, which allowed patients with a unique link to make an asynchronous request for treatment. Two GP practices identified a total of 4337 eligible patients who received an SMS or email invite to engage with an online portal including an electronic survey to capture information about smoking behaviours and to request treatment. Portal informatics and patient level data were analysed to measure the efficacy of the online system in reducing the time between making a formal request to treatment and access to pharmacological support. The primary outcome measure was the time between making a formal request for treatment and access to pharmacological support from a designated community pharmacy. Results: 323 patients (7.4%) initiated the survey, but only 56 patients completed the survey and made a formal request for treatment. 94% of participants did not return to use the portal to make a second or follow-up request for treatment. Only 3 participants completed the 12-week pathway. A total of 75 medication items were prescribed and collected by 56 patients. The time difference between the formal request to treatment and GP review ranged between 20 h and 1 week. The time difference between approval of prescription by the GP and access to medication was 5 days ± 2.1 days (range = 1.9-7.0 days). Conclusion: The widespread adoption and diffusion of an IT enabled and asynchronous primary care led remote consultation pathway can streamline timely access to smoking cessation support without the need for the patient to see a GP or an independent prescriber in the first instance.

Technologies Trend towards 5G Network for Smart Health-Care Using IoT: A Review.

Smart health-care is undergoing rapid transformation from the conventional specialist and hospital-focused style to a distributed patient-focused manner. Several technological developments have encouraged this rapid revolution of health-care vertical. Currently, 4G and other communication standards are used in health-care for smart health-care services and applications. These technologies are crucial for the evolution of future smart health-care services. With the growth in the health-care industry, several applications are expected to produce a massive amount of data in different format and size. Such immense and diverse data needs special treatment concerning the end-to-end delay, bandwidth, latency and other attributes. It is difficult for current communication technologies to fulfil the requirements of highly dynamic and time-sensitive health care applications of the future. Therefore, the 5G networks are being designed and developed to tackle the diverse communication needs of health-care applications in Internet of Things (IoT). 5G assisted smart health-care networks are an amalgamation of IoT devices that require improved network performance and enhanced cellular coverage. Current connectivity solutions for IoT face challenges, such as the support for a massive number of devices, standardisation, energy-efficiency, device density, and security. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of 5G assisted smart health-care solutions in IoT. We present a structure for smart health-care in 5G by categorizing and classifying existing literature. We also present key requirements for successful deployment of smart health-care systems for certain scenarios in 5G. Finally, we discuss several open issues and research challenges in 5G smart health-care solutions in IoT.

Mitochondrial DNA control region variation in Lebanon, Jordan, and Bahrain.

This study investigated the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region variation in Middle Eastern populations (610 individuals from Lebanon, Jordan and the Kingdom of Bahrain) for which population data are scarce. FST comparison among populations revealed that there are significant differences in mtDNA distributions between Bahrain and the two other populations, while Lebanon and Jordan showed no significant differences. This was also reflected by the distribution of the observed lineages that differed prominently between Bahrain and the other two investigated populations. Jordan and Lebanon fit the hitherto known genetic results of the Levant population. Data are available via EMPOP (https://empop.online) and GenBank.

An email triage model for personalising paediatric permanent tooth extractions under general anaesthesia.

It is important that dental extractions under general anaesthesia (GA) are planned appropriately to avoid a repeat GA in the future. Current guidelines recommend the input of an orthodontist when the treatment plan involves a permanent tooth extraction but the number of children undergoing GA extractions makes this challenging. A model has been developed where the records of children planned for GA extraction of permanent teeth are triaged, via secure email, by an orthodontist. The orthodontist identifies patients where modification of the extraction pattern could be beneficial to longer-term oral health. For some patients this is possible from review of the records alone, but the triage also identifies those patients with more complex occlusal problems who require a face to face orthodontic assessment. This service review found that 22% of the patients triaged had their treatment plan modified by the orthodontist. For 76% of the patients, a review of their records was sufficient before finalising the plan and only 24% needed a further face to face orthodontic assessment. This model has been successful in reducing the burden of an additional orthodontic assessment for most patients while providing personalised care.

Chemistry, Alpha-glucosidase and Radical Scavenging Properties of Uranyl(VI) Hydrazide Complexes.

BACKGROUND: Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antitumoral activities among others are essential characteristics in the development of novel therapeutic compounds. Acid hydrazides can form complexation with certain metal ions that positively enhance these biological characteristics. OBJECTIVE: Five new complexes of uranium with hydrazide ligands were synthesized at room temperature. METHODS: The characterization was done by spectroscopic methods (ESI-Mass, IR, 1H-NMR, 13CNMR), CHN analysis and conductivity measurements. Metal complexes along with their respective ligands were further screened for their antioxidant (DPPH, superoxide and nitric oxide free radicals) properties and enzyme inhibition (α-glucosidase) activities. RESULTS: Elemental and spectral data indicate octahedral geometry around uranyl (UO2 2+) species. Magnetic moments indicate the diamagnetic nature of uranyl(VI) ion in the complex in solid state. IC50 values showed potential antioxidant behavior of uranyl complexes demonstrating interesting structure-activity relationships. In general, hydrazide ligands were not active against superoxide and nitric oxide radicals while varying degree of results were observed against DPPH radical whereas all uranyl-complexes showed promising radical scavenging activities against all of them. Promising inhibitory potential was displayed by UO2 +2 hydrazide complexes against α- glucosidases whereas free hydrazide ligands were inactive. CONCLUSION: Structure function relationship demonstrates that the nature of ligand, position of substituent, electronic and steric effects are significant factors affecting the radical scavenging and enzyme inhibition activities of the compounds.

Association of cognitive impairment with sleeping difficulties, anxiety and depression among Pakistani physicians.

Previous literature has highlighted a high burden of a variety of psychopathologies such as anxiety, depression, and poor sleep quality among Pakistani physicians. These psychopathologies are associated with a poor quality of life and cognitive difficulties, affecting empathy levels, doctor patient relationship, and work performance. It is a cross sectional study in which 300 Pakistani physicians aged 45 and above, were interviewed using a questionnaire comprising hospital anxiety and depression scale, cognitive difficulties scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. All data were analyzed in SPSS v.21. A total of 268 doctors responded (268/300). A total of 72 (26.9%) participants were severely anxious, 31 (11.6%) were severely depressed and 129 (48.1%) respondents were poor sleepers. Hierarchal regression analysis revealed that female gender, increasing age, high PSQI and anxiety scores were significant predictors of cognitive difficulties among the respondents.

Vanadium(V) complexes with hydrazides and their spectroscopic and biological properties.

The present study explores the synthesis and inhibitory potential of vanadium(V) complexes of hydrazides (1c-12c) against oxidative enzymes including xanthine oxidase and lipoxygenase (LOX). In addition, non-enzymatic radical scavenging activities of these complexes were also determined. On the basis of spectral, elemental and physical data, synthesized vanadium(V) complexes are tentatively assigned to have an octahedral geometry with two hydrazide ligands and two oxo groups forming a negatively charged sphere complex with ammonium as counter ion. This is further verified by the conductivity studies of the complexes. Results show that hydrazide ligands (1-12) and their respective vanadium(V) complexes (1c-12c) posses scavenging and inhibition potential against DPPH and LOX, respectively. However, contrary to that uncoordinated ligands showed no activity against nitric oxide, superoxide and xanthine oxidase whereas their complexes showed varying degree of activity. These studies indicate that geometry of complex, nature and position of substituent groups play a vital role in scavenging and inhibition potential of these compounds.

Folic Acid Effect on Artemether-Induced Cardiac Anomalies in Mice Embryos.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of folic acid in preventing the adverse effects of artemether, on fetal heart in Albino mice. STUDY DESIGN: Experimental study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Department of Anatomy, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, from July 2011 to January 2012. METHODOLOGY: Eighteen pregnant Albino mice were randomly divided into three groups A, B, and C of six mice each. The control group Awas treated with intramuscular injection of solvent arachis oil 10.7 mg/kg, group B was given intramuscular injection of artemether 10.7 mg/kg, and group C was given intramuscular injection of artemether 10.7 mg/kg and folic acid 4.93 mg/kg, dissolved in 0.1 ml. of distilled water orally, from 6th to 10th day of pregnancy. On 18th gestational day, the mice were sacrificed, and dissected to deliver live fetuses of group A(n=46), group B (n=16), and group C (n=20) were delivered. After dissection of the fetuses, the hearts were isolated and fixed in 10% formalin and processed in a usual way for histological examination with the light microscope after H&E staining, using X4, X10, and X40 objectives. The sections were evaluated for presence of septal defects, thickness of ventricular and atrial septa was calculated by micrometery. For statistical analysis, SPSS version 18 was used. RESULTS: Post-Hoc Tukey's test indicated statistically significant difference in mean atrial septal thickness between groups Aand B (p < 0.001), groups B and C (p=0.015), and insignificant difference between groups Aand C (p=0.178). There was statistically significant thinning of ventricular septa between groups Aand B (p < 0.001), groups B and C (p < 0.001), and groups Aand C (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Folic acid protected the toxic effects of artemether on the development of heart.